Who said hardscaping was difficult? Consider a soft, sustainable, DIY-friendly alternative.
Dreaming of your dream garden but having a limited budget? Are you concerned about the environmental impact of your masterpiece? Are you planning to do the work yourself but lack the skills of a master builder? Don’t be afraid. There is hope for you.
Consider “softer” hardscaping for your little paradise. The roads were made of gravel instead of mortar and grouted stone. Planted screen hedges. There is a wide canopy tree overhead rather than a gazebo for shade.
Go ahead and brighten up the architectural elements of your garden. Budget-friendly and requiring no professional skills, soft hardscapes can be the solution to creating a beautiful, timeless, and earth-friendly dream landscape. Here is a successful example of a softer hardscape element.
Paths made from inexpensive bulk materials. Whether you choose gravel, mulch, or decomposed granite, permeable earth materials and organic lines integrate seamlessly with their surroundings, while structured paths can be read separately from their surroundings.
These gravel paths lead to desired destinations at a low cost and with nominal environmental impact. Can’t you hear the crunch of gravel under your feet and feel the warmth it gives you? And wouldn’t a sturdily constructed road be appropriate in this environment? Choosing locally sourced gravel not only makes your footprint much lighter, it also has the added benefit of giving your piece a sense of place.
Simple. Easy to build. Permeability. Sustainable. Cheap. What’s not to love? Made from 100% recycled materials, this naturalistic mulch path is very attractive. Powerful geometry embodied in comfortable materials offers the best of all worlds: a direct path between point A and point B and an invitation to stay.
Unrestricted mulch application. This serene vignette is very charming. It is difficult to imagine achieving the feel of this composition using concrete paths, walkways, stepping stones, or other hard material.
Road with planted joints. The joints planted here make the stone road smooth. Adding just a small amount of greenery can provide tremendous visual softness. Use local stone to keep transportation requirements low and wider joints to increase permeability. Ah… think how different it would have felt if this road had been solid stone. This planted pebble surface is beautiful and permeable.
Installing stones over planted soil is much cheaper and uses fewer resources than a grouted and mortared stone path. It also integrates well with adjacent plants while adding dimension, texture and pattern to the composition.
Gravel road. Soft hardscapes blend beautifully with other components of the landscape rather than standing proud on their own. The plants, pavers and gravel form one integrated and permeable composition.
Lightening your hardscape doesn’t mean it loses its powerful features. Consisting of large flagstones laid on a layer of jointed mortar, this path is the main passage to the entrance vestibule.
Don’t be fooled by the naturalistic look. We provide everything you need to enter the path. It looks good, provides a clearly marked path to the front door, allows visitors to walk in pairs, keeps shoes clean, provides sturdy footing, and can handle a loaded refrigerator dolly. It also requires fewer materials to install than the more difficult route.
Monolithic soil slabs. Gravel joints add permeability and textural interest. Visually and in terms of resource consumption, this is much lighter than walking on land.
A softer step. Compacted stones placed on a mortar base form the columns of these steps. Recycled green waste mulch over compacted soil forms the tread. Rocks dried in situ provide soil retention where needed. It may not be ideal for your front door, but soft hardscape elements away from your home provide an experience of being close to nature.
Gravel paths lead to narrow passages of flagstones built on gravel-covered soil. This costs a lot of money. You get texture, rhythmic changes, and patterns. And by using less stone which is more expensive than gravel, you can save a ton of money and improve your design.
Decomposed granite road. Mix mortar flagstone steps with rock and gravel as needed for soil retention. Adding three materials to one color palette creates a harmonious composition rich in texture, color, depth and pattern.
Make the most of your resources by designing multifunctional spaces. This space leads to the garage, provides overflow parking when needed and serves as a patio area for large gatherings. They are highly accessible, highly breathable, very low maintenance and require no additional resources. And it’s absolutely horrible to boot!
Choosing softer hardscaping doesn’t mean you lose functionality. This decomposed granite walkway provides a quarter-mile of accessibility throughout the property, which is invaluable to chair-bound homeowners who have never been to their own garden. Winding paths offer views, places to stay, quick and easy access slopes and a variety of garden experiences designed to be enjoyed from chair height. Additionally, built-in seating areas, including well-placed rocks, walls, and benches, provide ample opportunity for the homeowner’s guests to sit down with their hosts and have comfortable conversations.
